The prior art already contains disclosures of crutch tips and the like which present toothed members or cleats for engaging ice or other penetrable surfaces, for secure positioning of the crutch on the surface. Examples of such toothed or cleat members are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 619,235 and 2,116,941. Also, the prior art is already aware of arrangements for crutch tips wherein cushioned or elastomeric members are positioned on the end of the crutch for protecting the surface on which the crutch rests and for assuring optimum frictional contact with the surface to avoid slipping. Examples of such prior art are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,132,119 and 1,314,193.
However, the prior art crutch tips which are arranged for the purposes mentioned above are complicated and expensive arrangements and they require special machining or configurations of the crutch itself in order to receive and accomodate the tips mentioned. Still further, the prior art does not contain examples of a convertible type of crutch tip which can be arranged for readily and easily presenting a cleat member and which can be converted to either covering or removing the cleat member when it is no longer desired. Accordingly, the accomplishment of this objective is the primary purpose of this invention. That is, the present invention provides a convertible crutch tip which can be readily and easily arranged to present a cleat member and which be arranged to either cover the cleat member or to remove the cleat member, all with inexpensive but efficiently and reliably arranged components.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a convertible crutch tip which can be readily arranged to attach and present a cleat member, for engaging ice or the like, and the cleat member can be readily and easily covered with a protectable cup-shaped member, for temporary enclosure and covering of the cleat member, or the cleat member can be readily and easily removed from the tip, and therefore the user can readily and easily make either conversion required or desired.
Still further, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a convertible crutch tip which does not require that the crutch pull itself receive any attached piece or that the pole be shaped or machined in any particular way, in order for the pole to accomodate and receive the convertible attachment of this invention. Accordingly, the convertible tip of this invention is universally adaptable to any and all crutch poles without requiring any special cutting or shaping of the pole itself and therefore the tip can be applied to already existing poles and can be applied by the person in a matter of only a very few seconds.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.